I don't know about you but I still can't get that studio image out of my head! 😅🙈 lol I hope you've been having fun with this week's prompt and that it's given you freedom to explore different things!

 

There have been a variety of interesting techniques being used--here's a look at what's being created--maybe there's something you'd like to try in a future piece…

 

And a little bit of housekeeping news: It sounds like once in awhile these newsletters may end up in the promotions/updates/spam/junk section of your inboxes--even if you've received all other emails! If you haven't received an email by around 1PM EST on Fridays and Tuesdays, please check out those tabs/folders or head to the Prompt Library to get the latest newsletter!

For Sue P's piece she thought of ripping paper as a stress reliever which lead her to placing the torn up pieces out of order to represent what her chaotic brain looks like sometimes. Then she thought about what makes her happy, sane, and calm: nature, coffee, insects and added those to her piece.

"I hate a messy kitchen, but I kind of like how this turned out using items from my kitchen:

--coffee that spilled over mugs
--dicarded tea
--a fork swipe of pomegranate juice
--Italian parsley and basil leaves painted with gouache and pressed into the page
--cut jalapeno dipped in gouache and used like a stamp

*parsley, basil, jalapenos all came from my little garden

No help from Bacon this time as I worked during his long afternoon nap.

 

I spoke too soon in my last post. Of course Bacon had to check things out." - Mitzi

“Spontaneity, form, texture, nature The prompt for Creative Spark Kickoff week 2 @atiliay was ‘Messy’. So many possibilities were offered and amplified. I was led into a portal by Olivia Lin of Francis Bacon, his studio and then, his art. If you know the book, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, Surrealism led me to a few favorite artists of mine, @remedios_varo_ Remedios Varo, @leonoracarringtonestate Leonora Carrington, Kay Sage Toyen, and Dorothea Tanning. Orienting and disorienting introspection and commentary of the world between the world wars. Trying to make sense. Something many of us are trying to do after the gun violence and death in Memphis, Half Moon Bay, Monterrey Park and the war in Ukraine. Long tangent…. returning to form, order and disorder. Nature. A fern from a friend’s garden in Occidental, @bombayink Blue and Sepia, lichen from a tree in Occidental and painting with a twig. Also inspired by @annblockleyri Abstract landscapes/ Landscaped Abstracts Exploration of color, brush strokes, texture, mark making.” - EB

“'I've been working on this long strangely shaped canvas. I painted it once and then recently gessoed over it and started again with fluorescent colors and while I was working I decided I would use the leftover paint colors in my sketchbook and just kind of drip them around hoping for something messy and fun! Well at some point I smudged things with a piece of paper and it just started looking icky so I felt like it wasn't just a messy middle it was more something that I didn't like and wasn't enjoying so I moved on!

 

I have been having fun with painted paper towel for collage. I let it dry and then peel the two- ply apart so it's just a single sheet. I like the way it looks when it's glued on because the part where there's no paint just kind of melts into the canvas or paper and I like the texture of the quilted towel. I've been laying brushes on paper towel and wiping brushes on paper towel and I decided to use that messy piece for a collage so that's what I ended up with!”

- Claudia This prompt also inspired Claudia to clean up her workspace! Anyone else do the same?

"Let me be honest here, I am waaay too left brained to have been anything but completely freaked out when this prompt came out with an image of a reconstruction of Francis Bacon’s studio. 😂 😳🙃

So instead, this initial submission is my first attempt at graffiti/bubble lettering and while I do think a marker would have been a better choice over watercolor for the infill I sure enjoyed creating this.

Thanks to @atiliay for the prompt and accompanying inspiration and to @dkdrawing2013 for the YouTube intro into bubble lettering.

Full disclosure: My Google research indicates that the cute Mickey Mouse/cartoon hand sign means “rock on” though I also saw mentions of “cool”, dope” in youth speak, and “unruly peace.” Please feel free to message me with anything to the contrary." - Vanesa S

Our community photo gallery has been updated with even more creations from the past few weeks! Here are the links for a closer look: Week 0 album and Week 1 album.

I'm planning on working on my page today and have been drawn to recreating images of messiness in an abstract form as well as making a piece inspired by social media. Right now I have no idea in my head of how they will look and I'm curious to find out :)

 

Keep on sending me photos and your inspiration/thoughts on your piece! Both email and tagging me on Instagram work. If sharing on IG, please also use #creativesparknl as a way to keep everything in one spot and follow the hashtag to stay up to date on what our fellow creatives are up to!

 

I hope you have a great rest of your week and I look forward to seeing more “messy” sketchbook pages! 

PS: If you haven't checked out the Resource Library, I've been adding some more things to it! If you're ever feeling stuck, take a look over there for some ideas! Link below: